Setting the scene: it’s the week before the bank holiday and you are spending most of the time looking forward to the three day weekend ahead of you. Then before you know it, it’s Tuesday, you’re back at work and you don’t feel like you achieved much on your days off – sound familiar?

Well, thanks to The Times, this won’t be the case this bank holiday weekend. The newspaper has produced a comprehensive list of Britain’s 40 best Bank Holiday days out. The options available range from spontaneous circle dancing, to world-record attempts (an attempt to persuade a dog to run through a tunnel made of 1,000 pairs of legs). The options are endless.

However you decide to spend your time, this weekend is meant to be a scorcher so remember to drink lots of water, pack the sun tan lotion and, more importantly, enjoy yourself.

Unless you have been in hibernation or a coma for the last couple of weeks, you would have undoubtedly heard all about Google’s new Street View tool. But, just in case, Street View provides 360 degree panoramic shots from various positions along a road, usually 10-20 metres apart.

To be honest, when it was first launched it didn’t create a huge debate or buzz around the Check Safety First office and the whole impact of the application just swept over us. But, then while I was doing my regular sweep of the travel blogs, I came across an entry by Joanna Tweedy on TravelMail which got me thinking completely differently on the potential that this new application from Google presents for travellers.

Joanna explains:

“Imagine being able to ’virtually’ stroll the streets around a hotel you’re thinking of booking? Within seconds, you can get a clear idea of whether the description e.g. ‘within a stone’s throw of the main attractions’ is an honest portrayal or absolute hogwash.”

What a fantastic way to use the tool! From personal experience, I know that there is nothing more infuriating than booking a hotel based on some rather beautiful photography only to turn up at the resort to be utterly disappointed. Now you can see the standard of a potential holiday destination without leaving the front room. Anything that enables holidaymakers to make a more informed choice before booking a break away, is fine by us.

During our entire careers, we, at Check Safety First, have never seen anything so shocking as the images released of Britain’s worst pub kitchen. We know what you’re thinking, how bad can it really be? Well, click here to see what we are talking about.

We always recommend that consumers’ use their common sense when it comes to food hygiene: make sure the food is piping hot before consuming, ask to inspect the kitchens if you are concerned, if in doubt complain. But, these images to beg the question, where were the chef’s common senses when he thought it was acceptable to store and cook foods in these conditions?

Anyone that has had “traditional” food poisoning, sickness, stomach cramps and diarrhoea, will know how deeply distressing in can be. But, the type of bacteria breeding in this kitchen could be potential fatal to anyone that ate there.

The owner of the pub, the Rose and Crown in Thaxted, Essex, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 towards the council’s costs. In our opinion, £2,000 doesn’t even begin to scratch the service with regards to the risks that he was exposing consumers to.

Disgusting – rant over!